Well, not really. I just turned in Assignment 2 for my CSE 143 programming class. This one was much easier than the first assignment. I'm glad to be done with it, though, since we've already gotten assignment 3, which deals with linked lists, and I'm still trying to grok that concept. I'll spend some quality time on that assignment this weekend - it's just not feasible for me to expect to be able to do a whole lot of work on weeknights since I just want to come home and relax after a long day at work.
Nathalie, a co-worker of mine, and I walked along the Sammamish River Trail today for an hour after work. It was a beautiful day and really nice to get *some* exercise even if I wasn't sweating or anything. I think I have to ease back into it so I don't hate it too much. We saw a group doing a "boot camp" workout with a personal trainer and I was soooo glad I wasn't part of it. I'm just in no mood for intense workouts now, which is really too bad since I was doing quite well before the wedding, and *almost* enjoying myself at the gym.
I am really looking forward to the long weekend and relaxing, cooking and eating good stuff. I'm craving vegetables which almost certainly means my eating habits have been completely horrible. Thanks to Jon and Leslie for making suggestions about the food and balancing out the crazy schedule. I've also got to kick this diet Coke habit. I've been drinking around 32 oz a day and almost no water. At least it doesn't have calories.
I skipped my quiz section today. Bad girl. I ruined my perfect attendance record in the second week. I just really needed that time for myself this morning - I finished the last bits of the assignment and got some work done as well, preparing for a big meeting I had to run today. I finally feel sort of caught up at work (or at least not behind) so maybe tomorrow i'll spend some time putting together that project plan I've been avoiding...
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Pomp and Circumstance
I've been meaning to post a link to the 2005 Commencement speech at Caltech by Sandra Tsing Loh, a Caltech alum. It's brilliant and hilarious. I wish I had been there to hear it in person.
I can't believe it's been 10 years since I finished college. Damn, that makes me feel old. I still remember standing out in the rain watching my class graduate without me - what a weird feeling. And then the following week, I was a bridesmaid in Jasmine and Chris's wedding. Crazy. It's amazing to me that an entire decade has gone by since then. That same summer was the year I did an internship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and fell in love with Seattle. (in the summer, anyway...)
Maybe if I spent less time on the Internet, I'd have more time to eat right and go to the gym. Ok, I'm off to bed. Gotta get up early and resubmit my CSE 143 homework assignment, as the instructor just gave away the code for one of the functions this morning due to an error one of the TAs made. Grrr - it just seems too easy - the error was such an obvious one and anyone with their brain turned on would catch it in their code. But now I need to make sure my code matches what was handed out in class, just on principle (though I'm sure mine works). Yes, I'm turning into one of those grade freaks. I am determined to get a 4.0 in this class, if only to appease my ego.
I can't believe it's been 10 years since I finished college. Damn, that makes me feel old. I still remember standing out in the rain watching my class graduate without me - what a weird feeling. And then the following week, I was a bridesmaid in Jasmine and Chris's wedding. Crazy. It's amazing to me that an entire decade has gone by since then. That same summer was the year I did an internship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and fell in love with Seattle. (in the summer, anyway...)
Maybe if I spent less time on the Internet, I'd have more time to eat right and go to the gym. Ok, I'm off to bed. Gotta get up early and resubmit my CSE 143 homework assignment, as the instructor just gave away the code for one of the functions this morning due to an error one of the TAs made. Grrr - it just seems too easy - the error was such an obvious one and anyone with their brain turned on would catch it in their code. But now I need to make sure my code matches what was handed out in class, just on principle (though I'm sure mine works). Yes, I'm turning into one of those grade freaks. I am determined to get a 4.0 in this class, if only to appease my ego.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Why do we hurtle ourselves through every inch of time and space?
My schedule is starting to get to me. Going to class every day at UW and trying to figure out how to work a full day around that is draining all my energy. My eating habits have become awful. Breakfast seems to work out ok, but for lunch I had an energy bar, a carton of milk (yay for free drinks at Microsoft), and a 22oz diet Coke from 7-11. For dinner I went to Kidd Valley (again!) and had grilled cheese and onion rings. And the gym? Forget it - I haven't been there in weeks. Ugh, I need to get control of this before it gets bad. If you have any ideas, feel free to pass them along... I'm not sure how people work full time and manage to cook for their families every night - that's crazy.
Spike and I slept in the "dog bed" last night. It's actually a pretty comfy futon that the dogs are allowed to sleep on, since they're not allowed on our bed. Even though Spike is only 28 lbs, he sure takes up a lot of space.I found myself way on one side of the bed, and he was sleeping horizontally across it, perpendicular to me. Pushy dog! Now he's lying on the couch and kicking me while he tries to stretch out. He's lucky I like him so much!
Dave (no blog) sent me this article on heavy metal band umlauts that is absolutely hilarious. Relive the 80s with this comprehensive analysis of diacritics in band names.
Spike and I slept in the "dog bed" last night. It's actually a pretty comfy futon that the dogs are allowed to sleep on, since they're not allowed on our bed. Even though Spike is only 28 lbs, he sure takes up a lot of space.I found myself way on one side of the bed, and he was sleeping horizontally across it, perpendicular to me. Pushy dog! Now he's lying on the couch and kicking me while he tries to stretch out. He's lucky I like him so much!
Dave (no blog) sent me this article on heavy metal band umlauts that is absolutely hilarious. Relive the 80s with this comprehensive analysis of diacritics in band names.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
A decade and one
Happy Birthday to me! Thanks to everyone who sent cards or called - it was so nice!
We went back to Canlis last night for dinner and it was (as always) YUM. The truffle fries were amazing - what could be better than skinny, crisp french fries seasoned with truffle oil. The Wagyu tenderloin steak was also amazingly good. Nothing in my pantry looked good today after that meal!
I worked on my first programming assignment all day today - somehow the entire day yesterday got away from me, though I did manage to get a manicure and pedicure, which was just divine.
I did take a break when my brain stopped working and we took the dogs to Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island. The off-leash area is on the shore of Lake Washington so Spike and Peanut got to deal with the little waves, too. Plus the water is a lot cleaner than the river at Marymoor, or so it seems. Spike decided to become a true swimmer beagle, and Peanut obsessed about a red squeaky ball he found there (after stealing it from another dog who found it first). They've been sleeping ever since we returned, which makes me wonder whether they're going to get up at 3am full of beans.
TJ and I also watched "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" which we got as a wedding gift from Judy and Kevin. I loved that movie when I was a kid! I never realized it had Shannen Doherty, Helen Hunt, and Sarah Jessica Parker in it - 20 years younger. TJ was amused, and I'm impressed he made it through the whole thing.
First week of class went well - I actually managed to attend every class this week, which actually did help with the homework assignment. This week we will be talking about linked lists, which is a new topic for me, so I'm looking forward to it.
As a birthday present to myself, I bought some sterling silver Affirmation Circles (cheesy website, cool idea). I'll wear them on a chain. I also bought a necklace just like Carrie's on "Sex and the City". I've always wanted one of those.
Well, back to the business of being 30. Weird.
We went back to Canlis last night for dinner and it was (as always) YUM. The truffle fries were amazing - what could be better than skinny, crisp french fries seasoned with truffle oil. The Wagyu tenderloin steak was also amazingly good. Nothing in my pantry looked good today after that meal!
I worked on my first programming assignment all day today - somehow the entire day yesterday got away from me, though I did manage to get a manicure and pedicure, which was just divine.
I did take a break when my brain stopped working and we took the dogs to Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island. The off-leash area is on the shore of Lake Washington so Spike and Peanut got to deal with the little waves, too. Plus the water is a lot cleaner than the river at Marymoor, or so it seems. Spike decided to become a true swimmer beagle, and Peanut obsessed about a red squeaky ball he found there (after stealing it from another dog who found it first). They've been sleeping ever since we returned, which makes me wonder whether they're going to get up at 3am full of beans.
TJ and I also watched "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" which we got as a wedding gift from Judy and Kevin. I loved that movie when I was a kid! I never realized it had Shannen Doherty, Helen Hunt, and Sarah Jessica Parker in it - 20 years younger. TJ was amused, and I'm impressed he made it through the whole thing.
First week of class went well - I actually managed to attend every class this week, which actually did help with the homework assignment. This week we will be talking about linked lists, which is a new topic for me, so I'm looking forward to it.
As a birthday present to myself, I bought some sterling silver Affirmation Circles (cheesy website, cool idea). I'll wear them on a chain. I also bought a necklace just like Carrie's on "Sex and the City". I've always wanted one of those.
Well, back to the business of being 30. Weird.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
You've gone straight to my head
We got our professional wedding pics yesterday!! They look so good - I almost don't recognize myself! We got 300 proofs in an album, selected by our photographer Bradley, plus we got digital scans of all the negatives from the 36 rolls of film he took. So we have 1000+ pictures. We're in the process of copying the digital ones from CD to our NAS drive. Once we do that, we'll convert them to smaller JPEG files (they're TIFFs now) and make CD copies for our family. And probably upload some to our Smugmug site as well. We can finally also upload the professional pics from the Savannah reception as well now that our PC is back up and running.
I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend. (In addition to my first programming assignment and celebrating my 30th birthday!)
I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend. (In addition to my first programming assignment and celebrating my 30th birthday!)
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Can't you feel it in the wonder of a bird's first flight?
I heard a very cool song today and Google revealed it's the Hothouse Flowers. I love Google.
This week my CSE 143 class started at UW. I have class from 12-1 Mon, Wed, and Fri, and then from 9:40-10:40am on Tuesday and Thursday. Yup! Every day I have to go to UW waaay over in Seattle and then come back to Redmond. Which is new for me - I could go for a couple of weeks without crossing the bridge sometimes.
Being a good citizen and also dreading the awful parking situation at the U (what the cool Seattle kids call it - remember in Singles when the Kyra Sedgwick character explained that?), I took the bus on Monday. 10 minutes to walk to the bus stop, another 10 minutes to wait for the bus, 15 minutes on the bus, 15 minutes to walk to class from the bus stop, 1 hour class, 15 minutes back to the bus stop, about a 20 minute wait for the next bus, 15 minutes on the bus, 10 minutes to walk back to work. I left around 11:05 am and returned to my desk after 2pm, just for a 1 hour class. Bleh.
So I tried an experiment yesterday - I drove. I decided I might be able to park in Jaz & Chris's alley, but as it turned out, there were plenty of street parking spots in the neighborhood near the side of the U I needed to be on. And at 9am, the commute is easy - no more than 17 minutes. Woo hoo. Left at 9am, back at work by 11:15. (and that's because I left for class too early.)
So I've decided to drop the bus thing and just take my chances with street parking. I just can't afford to waste that much time getting to and from a 1 hour class.
About the class. Our instructor is a grad student. Me personally, if I was an undergrad and paying for my education, I'd feel gypped that my class is being taught by a grad student. What - they couldn't find a professor to teach?? By no means is our instructor bad, but at a highly ranked CS program like UW, I'd expect an actual real professor. On the other hand, our instructor seems like he really likes teaching which is probably more than you'd get with some of the CS research faculty... So far we've spent the first 3 days reviewing what we should have learned in the previous quarter, and will spend the rest of the week doing the same. I'm being snobby here, but there's no way that would happen at Caltech. It's sink or swim there, and if you can't catch up, then you drop the class. Which makes me wonder whether I should have gone to college somewhere else and gotten better grades. Hmmm.
On the bright side, I'm really digging the material in the class, and programming (even in Java) is FUN. I love being in school again, even if it's just 1 hour a day. I like taking notes. I like that no one talks about "action items". I like that I understand the lecture and the practice problems. Now that my application for the UW Bothell CSS program is in, all I can do is wait and see if they accept me. If they do, woo hoo! More school for me! More taking notes on green geek paper with multiple pens. And less time in the car, with more conveniently scheduled classes. Wish me luck!
This week my CSE 143 class started at UW. I have class from 12-1 Mon, Wed, and Fri, and then from 9:40-10:40am on Tuesday and Thursday. Yup! Every day I have to go to UW waaay over in Seattle and then come back to Redmond. Which is new for me - I could go for a couple of weeks without crossing the bridge sometimes.
Being a good citizen and also dreading the awful parking situation at the U (what the cool Seattle kids call it - remember in Singles when the Kyra Sedgwick character explained that?), I took the bus on Monday. 10 minutes to walk to the bus stop, another 10 minutes to wait for the bus, 15 minutes on the bus, 15 minutes to walk to class from the bus stop, 1 hour class, 15 minutes back to the bus stop, about a 20 minute wait for the next bus, 15 minutes on the bus, 10 minutes to walk back to work. I left around 11:05 am and returned to my desk after 2pm, just for a 1 hour class. Bleh.
So I tried an experiment yesterday - I drove. I decided I might be able to park in Jaz & Chris's alley, but as it turned out, there were plenty of street parking spots in the neighborhood near the side of the U I needed to be on. And at 9am, the commute is easy - no more than 17 minutes. Woo hoo. Left at 9am, back at work by 11:15. (and that's because I left for class too early.)
So I've decided to drop the bus thing and just take my chances with street parking. I just can't afford to waste that much time getting to and from a 1 hour class.
About the class. Our instructor is a grad student. Me personally, if I was an undergrad and paying for my education, I'd feel gypped that my class is being taught by a grad student. What - they couldn't find a professor to teach?? By no means is our instructor bad, but at a highly ranked CS program like UW, I'd expect an actual real professor. On the other hand, our instructor seems like he really likes teaching which is probably more than you'd get with some of the CS research faculty... So far we've spent the first 3 days reviewing what we should have learned in the previous quarter, and will spend the rest of the week doing the same. I'm being snobby here, but there's no way that would happen at Caltech. It's sink or swim there, and if you can't catch up, then you drop the class. Which makes me wonder whether I should have gone to college somewhere else and gotten better grades. Hmmm.
On the bright side, I'm really digging the material in the class, and programming (even in Java) is FUN. I love being in school again, even if it's just 1 hour a day. I like taking notes. I like that no one talks about "action items". I like that I understand the lecture and the practice problems. Now that my application for the UW Bothell CSS program is in, all I can do is wait and see if they accept me. If they do, woo hoo! More school for me! More taking notes on green geek paper with multiple pens. And less time in the car, with more conveniently scheduled classes. Wish me luck!
Sunday, June 19, 2005
You found me when no one else was looking
Ugh. I really should get to bed. Or at least finish reading about Arrays before my programming class starts tomorrow. I cranked through two more programming exercises yesterday to try and catch up before my class starts. I've still got 2 more left, which hopefully I can work on this week just to confirm that I know the material from the pre-requisite class.
Looks like my first assignment for the class I'm taking is due on Sunday (my birthday, boo!).
I finished the application for the B.S. program I'm applying to, and Leslie was nice enough to agree to mail it for me. She, Jorge, and their adorable French Bulldog puppy Lola are staying with us while they look for a place to live. I'm so happy they decided to live in Seattle.
This has been a wildly productive weekend. I went to the gym, got a new driver's license with my new married name, wrote and mailed some more thank-you notes, returned a few things at Macy's and used up a bunch of our Macy's credit buying leftover things from our registry, weeded the front yard, went out to dinner with Dre, Dave, Michelle and Trayci, posted some Las Vegas pictures online, completed two programming assignments and read 2 chapters of the textbook, bought my dad a Father's Day present, bought my mom's birthday present, took out the trash, called my parents, returned library books and got new ones, printed out all the bus schedules, syllabus, etc. that I need for class tomorrow, and finished this week's laundry. Wow, I actually feel really good about this list.
Some weekends are just great for getting stuff done. This was one of them and I actually feel like I'm ready to tackle the week ahead. Woo hoo! Have a great week, everyone.
And Happy Father's Day, Appa!
Looks like my first assignment for the class I'm taking is due on Sunday (my birthday, boo!).
I finished the application for the B.S. program I'm applying to, and Leslie was nice enough to agree to mail it for me. She, Jorge, and their adorable French Bulldog puppy Lola are staying with us while they look for a place to live. I'm so happy they decided to live in Seattle.
This has been a wildly productive weekend. I went to the gym, got a new driver's license with my new married name, wrote and mailed some more thank-you notes, returned a few things at Macy's and used up a bunch of our Macy's credit buying leftover things from our registry, weeded the front yard, went out to dinner with Dre, Dave, Michelle and Trayci, posted some Las Vegas pictures online, completed two programming assignments and read 2 chapters of the textbook, bought my dad a Father's Day present, bought my mom's birthday present, took out the trash, called my parents, returned library books and got new ones, printed out all the bus schedules, syllabus, etc. that I need for class tomorrow, and finished this week's laundry. Wow, I actually feel really good about this list.
Some weekends are just great for getting stuff done. This was one of them and I actually feel like I'm ready to tackle the week ahead. Woo hoo! Have a great week, everyone.
And Happy Father's Day, Appa!
An's Book Club #2: The Samurai's Daughter, Sujata Massey
Grade: A
So nice to be on vacation and have time to read! I picked up this book at the library along with Playing With Boys, and took it to Las Vegas with me. Since it wasn't exactly a literary weekend in Las Vegas, I didn't start reading this until we were on the plane home. And by the time we got to Seattle, I was halfway through the book. And wow, what a book! I was skeptical at first because the description on the back sounded a little dry and my "open up to a random page and read a couple of paragraphs" test didn't really pull me in either. But I am so glad I gave it a chance. I got a little window into some history I never learned, especially the WW2-era stuff. I also realized that this is one of a series of books with the same protagonist, Rei Shimura, and now I'm excited to go and read the others. The ending was a little overdramatic, but still fun to read. I definitely recommend it and I'm planning to check out Massey's other books as well. I also have to give props to an Indian-American writer who is *not* writing about Indian themes or characters. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed many other Indian-American writers, but it's nice to know "we" can write about other things. Just like "we" can be characters other than doctors or 7-11 owners on TV or in the movies. For a good mystery, and some interesting history, check out this book!
So nice to be on vacation and have time to read! I picked up this book at the library along with Playing With Boys, and took it to Las Vegas with me. Since it wasn't exactly a literary weekend in Las Vegas, I didn't start reading this until we were on the plane home. And by the time we got to Seattle, I was halfway through the book. And wow, what a book! I was skeptical at first because the description on the back sounded a little dry and my "open up to a random page and read a couple of paragraphs" test didn't really pull me in either. But I am so glad I gave it a chance. I got a little window into some history I never learned, especially the WW2-era stuff. I also realized that this is one of a series of books with the same protagonist, Rei Shimura, and now I'm excited to go and read the others. The ending was a little overdramatic, but still fun to read. I definitely recommend it and I'm planning to check out Massey's other books as well. I also have to give props to an Indian-American writer who is *not* writing about Indian themes or characters. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed many other Indian-American writers, but it's nice to know "we" can write about other things. Just like "we" can be characters other than doctors or 7-11 owners on TV or in the movies. For a good mystery, and some interesting history, check out this book!
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Life's like an hourglass glued to the table
Woo hoo! We got back yesterday from Las Vegas. What a fun trip. I got to spend a lot of time with some friends from waaay back who I don't see very often, most of whom are from the East Coast.
I also spent a lot of time playing Pai Gow Poker. I discovered the joy (if not profitability) of the "Fortune Bonus" side bet, which gets paid if you get a certain kind of hand (straight, flush, etc.).
In my hours at the card tables, I noticed a few "types" of people who I pretty consistently run into in Las Vegas:
1. Clueless Joe Jackson - You just never seem to catch on to the game, and feel the need to broadcast that to the table. (As if stupidity is interesting, or cool.) Since Pai Gow Poker is a game where the dealer can help you, and where players aren't playing against each other, people often show each other their cards. However, the 8th time in a row you ask loudly "is this right" gets a little annoying. Or the clueless giggle and comment of "I'll never understand this without your help". Maybe you should pick an easier game like roulette. Or just give the dealer your money and shut up. We don't need you holding up every hand with your whining and apparently inability to learn.
2. Vegas Vic- You always tell us how long you've been coming to the *insert casino name here*. And how you got comps for the buffet/room. And how you knew *insert random name here*, a dealer who has been with *casino* for x years. And how "back in the day" things were different, and boy have things gone downhill with all the tourists. If you were really a high rolling gambler, would you be playing $5 Pai Gow with the rest of us "losers"??
3. Chatty Cathy - You are the worst. You might be of the Vegas Vic ilk and talk about how you know all about the casino, or this dealer or the time you got 5 aces. You talk the dealer's ear off. You talk your table mates' ears off. All we can do is smile or try to ignore you. But the worst part is, you talk without looking at the cards in your hand. Did you notice all of us have played our hands? And that the dealer can't play hers until you put your damn cards down? Your only redeeming value is when I'm losing, and your yammering slows down the casino taking my money. But wait, you're so annoying that I just get up from the table and leave anyway.
I feel like I'm channeling Suz here.
Better that I write about people I don't know than people I need to deal with again. We had a "neighborhood meeting" today to discuss the guy who wants to develop his property and build 8 new houses on it. 2.5 hours that could have been condensed into about 30 minutes. With no resolution at the end except to have another meeting. 'Nuff said.
I also spent a lot of time playing Pai Gow Poker. I discovered the joy (if not profitability) of the "Fortune Bonus" side bet, which gets paid if you get a certain kind of hand (straight, flush, etc.).
In my hours at the card tables, I noticed a few "types" of people who I pretty consistently run into in Las Vegas:
1. Clueless Joe Jackson - You just never seem to catch on to the game, and feel the need to broadcast that to the table. (As if stupidity is interesting, or cool.) Since Pai Gow Poker is a game where the dealer can help you, and where players aren't playing against each other, people often show each other their cards. However, the 8th time in a row you ask loudly "is this right" gets a little annoying. Or the clueless giggle and comment of "I'll never understand this without your help". Maybe you should pick an easier game like roulette. Or just give the dealer your money and shut up. We don't need you holding up every hand with your whining and apparently inability to learn.
2. Vegas Vic- You always tell us how long you've been coming to the *insert casino name here*. And how you got comps for the buffet/room. And how you knew *insert random name here*, a dealer who has been with *casino* for x years. And how "back in the day" things were different, and boy have things gone downhill with all the tourists. If you were really a high rolling gambler, would you be playing $5 Pai Gow with the rest of us "losers"??
3. Chatty Cathy - You are the worst. You might be of the Vegas Vic ilk and talk about how you know all about the casino, or this dealer or the time you got 5 aces. You talk the dealer's ear off. You talk your table mates' ears off. All we can do is smile or try to ignore you. But the worst part is, you talk without looking at the cards in your hand. Did you notice all of us have played our hands? And that the dealer can't play hers until you put your damn cards down? Your only redeeming value is when I'm losing, and your yammering slows down the casino taking my money. But wait, you're so annoying that I just get up from the table and leave anyway.
I feel like I'm channeling Suz here.
Better that I write about people I don't know than people I need to deal with again. We had a "neighborhood meeting" today to discuss the guy who wants to develop his property and build 8 new houses on it. 2.5 hours that could have been condensed into about 30 minutes. With no resolution at the end except to have another meeting. 'Nuff said.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
An's Book Club #1: Playing with Boys, Alisa Valdes Rodriguez
Grade: A
I picked it up at the library because I had read her previous book 'The Dirty Girls Social Club' and liked that too. This book was great! It definitely falls under the category of chick lit, and was extremely easy to read, but the characters were really well developed, and even though they were all flawed, and different from me, by the end of the book, the author managed to get me to like all of them. (Which isn't an easy task!) Definitely good beach reading, and it was laugh-out-loud funny at times. Which is another rare quality for a book.
Anyone else read this? What didja think?
I picked it up at the library because I had read her previous book 'The Dirty Girls Social Club' and liked that too. This book was great! It definitely falls under the category of chick lit, and was extremely easy to read, but the characters were really well developed, and even though they were all flawed, and different from me, by the end of the book, the author managed to get me to like all of them. (Which isn't an easy task!) Definitely good beach reading, and it was laugh-out-loud funny at times. Which is another rare quality for a book.
Anyone else read this? What didja think?
An's Book Club
I'm stealing an idea from Claudia's blog. I'm going to start listing the books I've read on the right side of the page, and maybe writing a short book report. I wish I had thought to write down every book I've read since I was a kid. I bet the list would be huge, and it would feel like a great accomplishment to see that.
I remember there was a "Read-A-Thon" in elementary school to benefit some Multiple Sclerosis organization. I loved that thing. I think a lot of my neighbors were surprised at how many books I managed to read in a short timeframe. My mom had to make rules that I couldn't read anything too easy, in order to make it fair, especially for those folks who pledged a quarter or more per book. I had to write down all the books I read for that, but the form was turned in at the end of the event, so I don't even have that record.
In college, I didn't read for fun at all. I had way too much to read for school. After I started working, I found the public library wherever I lived because I can't go into a bookstore without buying *something*. Oddly, I don't have that many books at home that I haven't read. Eventually I get around to reading everything I've bought.
Anyway, here's to keeping a record from now on!
I remember there was a "Read-A-Thon" in elementary school to benefit some Multiple Sclerosis organization. I loved that thing. I think a lot of my neighbors were surprised at how many books I managed to read in a short timeframe. My mom had to make rules that I couldn't read anything too easy, in order to make it fair, especially for those folks who pledged a quarter or more per book. I had to write down all the books I read for that, but the form was turned in at the end of the event, so I don't even have that record.
In college, I didn't read for fun at all. I had way too much to read for school. After I started working, I found the public library wherever I lived because I can't go into a bookstore without buying *something*. Oddly, I don't have that many books at home that I haven't read. Eventually I get around to reading everything I've bought.
Anyway, here's to keeping a record from now on!
And every gambler knows the secret to survivin'
That lyric is too easy for all y'all smart folks out there.
We're leaving for Las Vegas today. Dave is coming to dogsit for Peanut. Maybe some of his giant brain power will rub off on the Peanut, and he will become a Quantum Mechanical Dog.
Spike is at Aunt Susie's house on dog vacation. Maybe she'll take some more cute pictures of the Spikeman - the ones she took last time were the best pictures we have of Spike since he was afraid of cameras before the wedding. Now he's almost a little Diva Dog (or should that be Divo, since he's a boy dog?) who poses for the camera.
I picked up an awesome book yesterday at the Company Store - Sharing Digital Photos - The Future of Memories. It's somewhere between a how-to book on taking good digital photos, and a design book on how to create compelling stories and share them with others. It's a lovely book, full of color pictures and great diagrams. So maybe I'll take some of what I learn from that book and use it here or on our Smugmug site to share some pictures. We have a giant folder full of them on our NAS drive, and no real organization to them.
I won't be posting again until Monday or Tuesday, unless we find an Internet connection for Laptopasaurus. Peace out!
We're leaving for Las Vegas today. Dave is coming to dogsit for Peanut. Maybe some of his giant brain power will rub off on the Peanut, and he will become a Quantum Mechanical Dog.
Spike is at Aunt Susie's house on dog vacation. Maybe she'll take some more cute pictures of the Spikeman - the ones she took last time were the best pictures we have of Spike since he was afraid of cameras before the wedding. Now he's almost a little Diva Dog (or should that be Divo, since he's a boy dog?) who poses for the camera.
I picked up an awesome book yesterday at the Company Store - Sharing Digital Photos - The Future of Memories. It's somewhere between a how-to book on taking good digital photos, and a design book on how to create compelling stories and share them with others. It's a lovely book, full of color pictures and great diagrams. So maybe I'll take some of what I learn from that book and use it here or on our Smugmug site to share some pictures. We have a giant folder full of them on our NAS drive, and no real organization to them.
I won't be posting again until Monday or Tuesday, unless we find an Internet connection for Laptopasaurus. Peace out!
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
It's like I can't breathe
I bought the Kelly Clarkson CD a couple of weeks ago, on a whim, when buying 3 other pop CDs. By far, it's become my favorite of those four and the only thing I've wanted to listen to lately. It's one of those few CDs I own which doesn't have any BAD tracks on it, just a few I like less than the others. I guess I've made the transition to the dark side (or the light side, to steal a Simon Cowell joke about Bo Bice) and don't listen to cool obscure music as much...
Here are a few more CDs in my "no bad songs" category:
Counting Crows - August and Everything After
Vienna Teng - Waking Hour
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fear
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Matchbox 20 - Yourself or Someone Like You
Live - Mental Jewelry
Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
Linkin Park & JayZ - Collision Course (I kid you not, this is amazing)
Which CDs do you put in this category?
Here are a few more CDs in my "no bad songs" category:
Counting Crows - August and Everything After
Vienna Teng - Waking Hour
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fear
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Matchbox 20 - Yourself or Someone Like You
Live - Mental Jewelry
Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
Linkin Park & JayZ - Collision Course (I kid you not, this is amazing)
Which CDs do you put in this category?
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Peanut and his shadow
Here's one of the first pictures I took with my new camera, at the park on Saturday. We went late in the evening and I thought it would be neat to take some pictures of the long shadows. There was also a rainbow that day but you can only see it in the really large pictures.
TJ's new Laptopasaurus showed up today. It's *huge*. But it has 4 USB ports, compared to the measly 1 that my Dell laptop has. Not to mention a DVD drive. Our new PC should be here next week. Of course, TJ fixed our old one for $40 with the new motherboard he bought at Fry's. :( But that's ok, now we have 2 PCs. If I actually get into the CSS B.S. program, it'll be nice to have one Linux machine since some of the programming courses seem to require it.
Well, back to my "Calculating Admissions Stats" program. I'm on Exercise 4 of 9 that I have to finish before my class starts on June 20...
Sunday, June 05, 2005
I found this photograph, underneath broken picture glass
I got a new toy today!! I've been vaguely wanting a new digital camera for a while. Mine's about 5 years old and huge, compared to most. it works fine, so I feel vaguely bad about coveting a new one. But that's always how it is with portable electronics, isn't it?
After making waffles for Dave and Dave (no blog), we played a rockin' game of Trivial Pursuit. Dave (no blog) kicked our sorry butts. I had the least pie pieces. Boo to Genus III. Not surprisingly, we all earned the brown (science! poo!) pie first. After TP, TJ mentioned Fry's and Dave (no blog) was willing to drive since we didn't know exactly where it was. TJ wanted a new motherboard for our dead computer, and I went along in the hopes of finding a camera. Yay impulse purchase. Fry's is fairly amazing. I never noticed that when I lived in CA. It's like the Mecca of Electronics. There were about 50 different digital cameras to choose from. Craziness. I narrowed it down to a tiny Casio Exilim and the Canon Powershot SD20, which had the added bonus of coming in multiple colors.
So my new camera is tiny and RED. How cool is that? The actual color is "garnet", to be precise, so Kristin will especially appreciate it. I figured I could spend some of my wedding money on it. I think it's the same one Dave and Kim have.
I've played around enough with it to set the date and time, and take several pictures of Spike and Peanut. We're going to the park this evening so I'll take a few more.
Woo hoo, off to the PARK! BITECHU!
After making waffles for Dave and Dave (no blog), we played a rockin' game of Trivial Pursuit. Dave (no blog) kicked our sorry butts. I had the least pie pieces. Boo to Genus III. Not surprisingly, we all earned the brown (science! poo!) pie first. After TP, TJ mentioned Fry's and Dave (no blog) was willing to drive since we didn't know exactly where it was. TJ wanted a new motherboard for our dead computer, and I went along in the hopes of finding a camera. Yay impulse purchase. Fry's is fairly amazing. I never noticed that when I lived in CA. It's like the Mecca of Electronics. There were about 50 different digital cameras to choose from. Craziness. I narrowed it down to a tiny Casio Exilim and the Canon Powershot SD20, which had the added bonus of coming in multiple colors.
So my new camera is tiny and RED. How cool is that? The actual color is "garnet", to be precise, so Kristin will especially appreciate it. I figured I could spend some of my wedding money on it. I think it's the same one Dave and Kim have.
I've played around enough with it to set the date and time, and take several pictures of Spike and Peanut. We're going to the park this evening so I'll take a few more.
Woo hoo, off to the PARK! BITECHU!
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Summertime and the livin is easy...
We went to a BBQ at our friend Dave's house today. Bill, another Caltech friend we hadn't seen in a while was there too. We also met Dave's friend Lisa and his cousin Beth. Dave lives in a cool apartment with an awesome view of Lake Union, Gasworks Park, and downtown Seattle.
Due to all the wedding-related stuff, it's been a while since we just hung out with friends. It was nice. And reminded me how rare it is these days just to get some folks together on the spur of the moment to hang out. Everyone has plans, or kids, or is just plain busy. I guess that's what happens when you get into your 30s.
Sometimes I miss the spontaneity of college. At any time of day or night you could find *someone* who wanted to go do something, whether it was rearrange the Pasadena City College sign to spell things about Ruddock House, steal the giant inflatable chicken from El Pollo Loco, or just get a strawberry donut from Donut Man.
I am starting to get excited about our upcoming trip to Las Vegas next weekend. Kristin is organizing a girls' night out/birthday party for me, and apparently it involves dinner and a show. I'm afraid. Very afraid. But boy am I excited about a real vacation and doing some gambling. Football!!!
Due to all the wedding-related stuff, it's been a while since we just hung out with friends. It was nice. And reminded me how rare it is these days just to get some folks together on the spur of the moment to hang out. Everyone has plans, or kids, or is just plain busy. I guess that's what happens when you get into your 30s.
Sometimes I miss the spontaneity of college. At any time of day or night you could find *someone* who wanted to go do something, whether it was rearrange the Pasadena City College sign to spell things about Ruddock House, steal the giant inflatable chicken from El Pollo Loco, or just get a strawberry donut from Donut Man.
I am starting to get excited about our upcoming trip to Las Vegas next weekend. Kristin is organizing a girls' night out/birthday party for me, and apparently it involves dinner and a show. I'm afraid. Very afraid. But boy am I excited about a real vacation and doing some gambling. Football!!!
Friday, June 03, 2005
Math is hard
In response to one of my previous posts, someone mentioned asking the previous Ma 1a prof to write a note explaining that my grade wasn't indicative of my abilities. Which got me thinking, for the first time in a while, of the professor who taught both Math 1 and most of Math 2 when I took it.
This was the prof who told me that I was having difficulties w/ multivariable calculus because women had trouble visualizing things in 3D. I'll give him credit for identifying *my* problem, but I think it was pretty uncalled for to make this comment to me and 3 other women standing there, given that this is a science and engineering college and my guess is most women there don't have that problem...
This is also the prof who was reading Playboy during his office hours when my friend went to see him and didn't even attempt to put it away when she came in.
This same guy made me take an ORAL math exam in his office and I had to work out problems on the board. I think I was sick during finals week so this is the way I had to make up the exam. I also had to deal with comments like "clearly you weren't listening during class" and "did you learn anything in my class?" while doing these problems. It didn't help that most of the TAs had an excellent grasp of Math, but not of the English language...
This is the prof who got a call in the middle of the night from some undergraduates who pretended to be the Nobel Prize committee and told him he won the Nobel Prize in Mathematics. He got all excited, until they told him they were just kidding (there isn't a Nobel Prize in Math). Normally, I'd feel bad about this prank but that guy was just so useless as a prof and mean-spirited that I just think it's funny.
He retired immediately after the year I finished my math requirements. Boo to him.
This was the prof who told me that I was having difficulties w/ multivariable calculus because women had trouble visualizing things in 3D. I'll give him credit for identifying *my* problem, but I think it was pretty uncalled for to make this comment to me and 3 other women standing there, given that this is a science and engineering college and my guess is most women there don't have that problem...
This is also the prof who was reading Playboy during his office hours when my friend went to see him and didn't even attempt to put it away when she came in.
This same guy made me take an ORAL math exam in his office and I had to work out problems on the board. I think I was sick during finals week so this is the way I had to make up the exam. I also had to deal with comments like "clearly you weren't listening during class" and "did you learn anything in my class?" while doing these problems. It didn't help that most of the TAs had an excellent grasp of Math, but not of the English language...
This is the prof who got a call in the middle of the night from some undergraduates who pretended to be the Nobel Prize committee and told him he won the Nobel Prize in Mathematics. He got all excited, until they told him they were just kidding (there isn't a Nobel Prize in Math). Normally, I'd feel bad about this prank but that guy was just so useless as a prof and mean-spirited that I just think it's funny.
He retired immediately after the year I finished my math requirements. Boo to him.
Hold me close now Tony Danza
Yes, I know that's not the actual lyric. But that's what I hear.
After about 2.5 hours I finally got my stupid DrawRocket program to work. I thought it would be all easy but it turns out I have some sort of mental defect when it comes to drawing ASCII rockets. I had the hardest time understanding which for loops should be nested, and which index to use. I guess that was the point of the assignment. It was nice to learn something, though I do a lot of trial and error programming - write something, compile it and run it to see if it worked. I guess I should resist the urge and try to write the whole thing before compiling it so I don't waste time.
TJ poked at the computer some more and decided it was dead, probably the motherboard. We decided to buy an IBM computer to replace ours, and used TJ's dad's employee family/friends discount. Thank you Mr Creath! TJ also bought a snazzy brick of a laptop. I'm not sure if it's "our" laptop or "his" laptop. I guess I'll find out when it shows up, but it's not cute and portable like the new Sony VAIOs anyway. Speaking of which, I am eligible to get a new laptop for work in November and I am seriously coveting the VAIO. If I do get into the B.S. program, it'll be great to have a tiny laptop that's easy to carry around. My current one, a Dell Latitude C600, is just a bit too heavy to be really convenient.
I got more bummer news from the CSS Admissions Counselor today, about how she talked to the admissions committee and how they felt my application is weak in Math but they couldn't definitively tell me whether I should retake Calculus at UW this summer until they see my whole app. (By which time it'll be too late for me to register for another summer class anyway.) But honestly, I don't wanna retake calculus. I passed the terms at Caltech they need for the program. So I'm just going to apply and hope for the best. A friend of mine from Caltech, who also happens to be research faculty at UW, has offered to write a letter vouching for math at Tech and explaining the situation. He rocks. :)
In my applications for grad school, college, etc., the following schools have rejected me: Princeton, MIT (twice! bastards!), and UCSF. I'm really hoping UW-Bothell isn't going to join that list. (one of these things is not like the others...) Especially since this is the only degree I've wanted to get just for pure learning's sake and not for some future career plan. Maybe that's why I'm obsessing about it so much.
Thanks everyone for your comments. For 5 minutes today I tried Haloscan's comment/trackback features, until I realized it zaps all your Blogger comments and you can't see them anymore. So I removed it. Boo to Haloscan! TTFN!
After about 2.5 hours I finally got my stupid DrawRocket program to work. I thought it would be all easy but it turns out I have some sort of mental defect when it comes to drawing ASCII rockets. I had the hardest time understanding which for loops should be nested, and which index to use. I guess that was the point of the assignment. It was nice to learn something, though I do a lot of trial and error programming - write something, compile it and run it to see if it worked. I guess I should resist the urge and try to write the whole thing before compiling it so I don't waste time.
TJ poked at the computer some more and decided it was dead, probably the motherboard. We decided to buy an IBM computer to replace ours, and used TJ's dad's employee family/friends discount. Thank you Mr Creath! TJ also bought a snazzy brick of a laptop. I'm not sure if it's "our" laptop or "his" laptop. I guess I'll find out when it shows up, but it's not cute and portable like the new Sony VAIOs anyway. Speaking of which, I am eligible to get a new laptop for work in November and I am seriously coveting the VAIO. If I do get into the B.S. program, it'll be great to have a tiny laptop that's easy to carry around. My current one, a Dell Latitude C600, is just a bit too heavy to be really convenient.
I got more bummer news from the CSS Admissions Counselor today, about how she talked to the admissions committee and how they felt my application is weak in Math but they couldn't definitively tell me whether I should retake Calculus at UW this summer until they see my whole app. (By which time it'll be too late for me to register for another summer class anyway.) But honestly, I don't wanna retake calculus. I passed the terms at Caltech they need for the program. So I'm just going to apply and hope for the best. A friend of mine from Caltech, who also happens to be research faculty at UW, has offered to write a letter vouching for math at Tech and explaining the situation. He rocks. :)
In my applications for grad school, college, etc., the following schools have rejected me: Princeton, MIT (twice! bastards!), and UCSF. I'm really hoping UW-Bothell isn't going to join that list. (one of these things is not like the others...) Especially since this is the only degree I've wanted to get just for pure learning's sake and not for some future career plan. Maybe that's why I'm obsessing about it so much.
Thanks everyone for your comments. For 5 minutes today I tried Haloscan's comment/trackback features, until I realized it zaps all your Blogger comments and you can't see them anymore. So I removed it. Boo to Haloscan! TTFN!
Not O.K. Computer
Our home PC appears to have died yesterday. It may still be resurrected, but its symptoms worsened over the past couple of days. After I rebooted, it didn't come back up. Not even the POST beep thingy upon boot. :(
A couple of days ago, IE crashed. Which I didn't think much of because IE always crashes... So I let it close, sent the data to Microsoft like a good employee and got some not-so-helpful info from Microsoft about installing some Service Pack or fix for IE which I'm pretty sure I already had since we have the Automatic Windows Updates turned on.
Short exhortation from a Microsoft employee:
1. Turn on your Windows Update settings to at least automatically download fixes, if you're not comfortable with Windows installing them for your automatically. It might save you from a bad virus or other weirdness down the road. Plus then you don't have to think about patching your computer - Windows will pick it up for you and you'll be up-to-date.
2. When something crashes, always click "Send" when Microsoft asks you to send the data back. Your data sent is not personally identifiable and Microsoft isn't trying to spy on you. We collect the data, try to categorize "types" of errors, and provide it to the product groups. Fixing Error Reporting crashes is one of the big things that happens before a new product releases. The more data we get, the better we know what problems customers are running into.
Anyway, back to my PC. Yesterday I noticed that the time was messed up - it was about 3 hours fast. Then I looked at the date, and it said June 6, 2207. I had suddenly been transported 202 years into the future. Woo hoo! It's nice to know TJ and I will be together for that long.
So we decided to reboot. And then our computer never came back. Not even after we let it "rest" for the evening. We (mostly TJ probably) will poke at it this weekend to see if it's the hard drive or something, but it's likely to be dead. We bought it for $700 from Tiger Direct a couple of years ago so it wasn't too expensive. I think the next one will be from Dell. It's probably not any better quality but it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that it might be more reliable.
Have a good Friday everyone! I can't believe it's the weekend already.
A couple of days ago, IE crashed. Which I didn't think much of because IE always crashes... So I let it close, sent the data to Microsoft like a good employee and got some not-so-helpful info from Microsoft about installing some Service Pack or fix for IE which I'm pretty sure I already had since we have the Automatic Windows Updates turned on.
Short exhortation from a Microsoft employee:
1. Turn on your Windows Update settings to at least automatically download fixes, if you're not comfortable with Windows installing them for your automatically. It might save you from a bad virus or other weirdness down the road. Plus then you don't have to think about patching your computer - Windows will pick it up for you and you'll be up-to-date.
2. When something crashes, always click "Send" when Microsoft asks you to send the data back. Your data sent is not personally identifiable and Microsoft isn't trying to spy on you. We collect the data, try to categorize "types" of errors, and provide it to the product groups. Fixing Error Reporting crashes is one of the big things that happens before a new product releases. The more data we get, the better we know what problems customers are running into.
Anyway, back to my PC. Yesterday I noticed that the time was messed up - it was about 3 hours fast. Then I looked at the date, and it said June 6, 2207. I had suddenly been transported 202 years into the future. Woo hoo! It's nice to know TJ and I will be together for that long.
So we decided to reboot. And then our computer never came back. Not even after we let it "rest" for the evening. We (mostly TJ probably) will poke at it this weekend to see if it's the hard drive or something, but it's likely to be dead. We bought it for $700 from Tiger Direct a couple of years ago so it wasn't too expensive. I think the next one will be from Dell. It's probably not any better quality but it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that it might be more reliable.
Have a good Friday everyone! I can't believe it's the weekend already.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
I don't know why she swallowed that fly
Since I am taking CSE 143 at UW starting June 20, I need to review the materials for CSE 142 since it's Java stuff I haven't seen in about 5 years. Fortunately I took an intensive Java course at Sun Microsystems while I was working at Deloitte so a lot of this stuff is coming back to me.
It's nice to write programs again. Even dumb ones that just print lines of text to the screen. Tomorrow I need to work on the "Draw Rocket" program. For those of you interested in checking out the programming assignments, look at the CSE 142 Website.
I went to UW Bothell today to meet with an Admissions Adviser re: applying to the B.S. program. She went through my transcript from college and that was painful. She wrote down the grades for my "Calculus" courses, which Caltech decides just to call "Freshman Mathematics" and "Sophomore Mathematics", for all 6 freakin' quarters. They were the hardest courses I ever took but from the titles you'd think we were learning how to count on our fingers! Well of course my grades were horrible. I eventually managed to Pass the 3 quarters of Freshman Mathematics (no grades given) and then got 2 Ds and a C in Sophomore Mathematics. So the adviser says she's not sure they'll admit me. Arghhhh. She did allude to Caltech being a hard school, so hopefully the CSS faculty will pick up on that. I guess I can't do much but apply and cross my fingers. Boo to Caltech! Boo to Math 1 and 2! Boooooo!
It's nice to write programs again. Even dumb ones that just print lines of text to the screen. Tomorrow I need to work on the "Draw Rocket" program. For those of you interested in checking out the programming assignments, look at the CSE 142 Website.
I went to UW Bothell today to meet with an Admissions Adviser re: applying to the B.S. program. She went through my transcript from college and that was painful. She wrote down the grades for my "Calculus" courses, which Caltech decides just to call "Freshman Mathematics" and "Sophomore Mathematics", for all 6 freakin' quarters. They were the hardest courses I ever took but from the titles you'd think we were learning how to count on our fingers! Well of course my grades were horrible. I eventually managed to Pass the 3 quarters of Freshman Mathematics (no grades given) and then got 2 Ds and a C in Sophomore Mathematics. So the adviser says she's not sure they'll admit me. Arghhhh. She did allude to Caltech being a hard school, so hopefully the CSS faculty will pick up on that. I guess I can't do much but apply and cross my fingers. Boo to Caltech! Boo to Math 1 and 2! Boooooo!